Background:

The Convent of the Sisters of
Nazareth is adjacent to the Basilica of Annunciation. It operates a
school, a hostel and a church. Under its courtyard are ancient
remains dated to the Early Roman period.

Location:

History of the place:

Ottoman period

In 1881 a group of French nuns
arrived in Nazareth and purchased stores and land. They then constructed
a convent in adjacent to the Church of Annunciation .

Archaeological evidence was
discovered in 1884 at the site on which they were constructing their
convent. This included underground rooms, built walls and tombs,
some of which date to the 1st Century AD. The area of the
excavations had been a Jewish burial site in the Roman period, but
it also contained a dwelling in use prior to the construction of at
least one of the tombs, itself dated to the 1st century. The
archaeological evidence at the convent remained almost entirely
unpublished, and almost unknown to archaeologists, until 2006 when
it was the subject of a 5-year study by the Nazareth Archaeological
Project, directed by Ken Dark from the University of Reading in
England. Although no new excavation was conducted, modern
archaeological recording of the existing remains and objects found,
and re-analysis of the records made during nineteenth- and
twentieth- century excavations, make it possible to date what was
found at the convent much more accurately, and to interpret it in
the light of what is known from other Roman and Byzantine sites.

Modern times

Today the convent operates a
school for deaf and blind children, a hostel for pilgrims, and a
church. The church and the subterranean remains can be visited, but
require an appointment.

Photos:

(a) The exterior:

The photo shows the east
side of the monastery, on 6167 street of the Latin quarter of Nazareth.

Click on the photos to view in higher
resolution...

The entrance
to the convent is through a beautiful gate, as seen in the photo
below.

On top
of the gate is a small statue of Saint Joseph holding infant
Jesus.

Detail of the entrance gate

(b) Courtyard:

After entering to the convent, an
open courtyard separates the residential buildings (on the right) to
the church (behind).

The base of the statue
of the Holy Family, located in the center of the courtyard, bears the date
of 1855 (MDCCCLV) when the construction was started.

Inscription on the base of the statue

Under the courtyard of the convent is a first-century tomb, once
sealed by a rolling stone, and an earlier house dating from the same
century.

(c) Church:

The Church is located on the north
side of the courtyard. The main altar faces east.

A closer
view of the altar:

A vitrage
- stained glass - is typical of European Churches interiors.
Here it is embedded in the four panels of the eastern wall around
the altar. This art form reach its height in European Churches
during the Middle ages, as it was used to enter colored light while
illustrating Biblical scenes.

On the side of
the altar is a Bible, opened on Gospel of Luke Chapter 24 (Latin:
Evanglium Secundum Lucam).

Art
in the Church

On the
wall is a picture on canvas illustrating Mary and infant Jesus.
Greek initials appear on the top left and right side: MP
ΘΥ - Greek initials meaning: Mary Mother
of God.

Another
painting of Joseph is in the next photo. Greek letters of Joseph's
name is on the right (ΙΩΣΗΦ - Yosef), while on the left (ΟΑΓΙΟΣ)
stands for Saint .

Joseph holds a pair of pigeons, which were offered according to
Jewish law to the temple in Jerusalem after the child's birth. (Luke
2: 22-24): "And when the days of her purification according to
the law of Moses were accomplished, they brought him to Jerusalem,
to present him to the Lord; (As it is written in the law of the
LORD, Every male that openeth the womb shall be called holy to the
Lord;) And to offer a sacrifice according to that which is said in
the law of the Lord, A pair of turtledoves, or two young pigeons".

Another picture originated from Greece, depicting Mary and infant
Jesus. It is known as the Theotokos ("God bearer") of Vladimir, a
fine medieval Byzantine icon of the Virgin and Child originating
from the 12th Century Russia. The painting is also on display in the
form of a mosaic picture in the courtyard of the
Basilica of Annunciation.

(d) Subterranean ruins:

Archaeological evidence was discovered under the convent, including
a dwelling house, tombs, water cisterns and a church. These date
from the 1st century AD and the Byzantine, Crusader and Ottoman
periods.

Guided tours
are limited and must be requested in advance. Our private tour was graciously
guided by an Italian nun, Sister Stefania, and we thank her for her assistance.

Thanks also to
Ken Dark for his inputs and corrections.

A
freehand sketch of the underground complex is illustrated here,
indicating the points of interest which are detailed in the
remainder of this page. You can click on the titles to
branch to that section.

The complex consists of a number
of rock hewn cavities, cut for various functions over a period
of 2,000 years, and built walls of various dates. The area is
oriented south-north, where the north side against the hillside.

Topography

Ken Dark has drawn attention to Roberts’ illustration of Nazareth
in 1839, which was painted before the construction of the convent.

The location of the site, as
indicated on the illustration, is on the slopes of the Nazareth
hills. The modern Casa-Nova street follows the path of the wadi,
passing on the west and north sides of the Annunciation Church.

The
structures found under the convent were cut into the hillside,
on the southern end of the limestone ridge, parallel and above
the wadi. This dictated the plan of the Roman period house, the
tombs and cisterns, and the constructions of the post-Roman
period structures, and it also meant that the rock-cut walls
survived better than the usual stone-built walls.

Part of David Roberts
illustration, 1839 ; Library of Congress collection

Descent
to the underground complex

A modern
staircase leads down from the monastery to the underground complex.

The staircase leads right to an underground rock hewn chapel, or
cave-church. A pair of steps lead up to the cave, where an altar is
located.

Chapel and cisterns

The
staircase leads right to an underground rock hewn chapel. A
pair of steps lead up to the cave, where an altar is located.

The cave-church
is located under an opening, seen in the photo below. This opening
is a light-well, a feature found in other Byzantine churches and
designed to let natural light onto the altar, which presumably stood
below it. Today the base of a modern altar stands in approximately
the same position.

The cave-church was made
in the Late Roman or Byzantine period by cutting back into the
rock from one side of a Roman-period tomb, remains of which can
be seen in the cave-church.

The
location of the chapel is indicated on the map with a red square.

The
following photo is a closer view of the cave-church. When the
cave was excavated in the nineteenth century, the nuns found a
skeleton of a man in a crouched position to the left of the
L-shaped stone on the bottom left side. This burial was probably
part of the tomb preceding the cave-church, but carefully
preserved inside it when the cave was cut into the rock.

On the
western wall of the chapel is a number of small basins, all
connected to each other by a small hole.

This
might have been an agriculture installation, used by the monastery
to produce wine. Guessing from the type of installation, it may be
dated to the Byzantine period.

Burial Loculi (North)

Another trace of
the earlier, Roman-period, tomb can be seen at the south end of the
cave, where a pair of burial cavities (loculi) are hewn at the edge
of a narrow passage on the south west side of the cave-church. One
of these had a complete skeleton at the time of discovery. These
were again carefully preserved when the cave-church was constructed,
showing the respect its builders had for the earlier burials.

Another cavity is adjacent to these loculi. It opens to a passage to
the western wall, where according to nineteenth-century reports
there were additional rock hewn loculi.

Corridor

Turning left from the modern
staircase, a corridor between the south and north sections passes along another
set of niches in the wall, although these are of much later date, and then opens
into a number of chambers.

Crusaders period
staircase

On the south side of the complex, adjacent to the dwelling
house, is a pair of staircases. They are dated to the Crusader
period.

The location of the two staircases is indicated on the map with
a red
square.

The photo below shows eastern staircase, located behind an
arch.

The other
staircase is seen here:

Another view of the western staircase is seen here. The wall and
the staircase are from the Crusader-period. It is possible that,
although certainly rebuilt in the Crusader period, this wall may
have been based on an Early Roman period wall, belonging to the
house on the west side.

Another set of steps is located on the western side of the cellar.

Early Roman House

Ruins of a dwelling are located on the south side of the
complex, partially cut into the hillside rock.

The location of the house is indicated on the map with a red square.

The photo below shows its entrance and the wall on the left
side.

Part of the original floor of the house can be seen just inside
the doorway. Professor Ken Dark interpreted this structure as an
Early Roman period house, perhaps the type of "courtyard
house” found at other sites. It can be dated to the 1st Century
AD. The large area in front of the opening was the largest
room, while the small opening was an entrance to the northern
smaller room.

Professor Ken Dark was able to show that after the house was disused
small-scale quarrying cut away part of its southern side. This
quarrying was, in turn, cut into by the deep forecourt of another
tomb, of a type dateable to the first century AD. So a sequence of
house, then quarrying, then tomb could be seen, probably all before
the end of the first century.

Records made
when the present convent was built show that a large Byzantine church, decorated
with floor- and wall-mosaics, once stood above the visible remains. Ken Dark has
argued that this surface-level church was the Byzantine ‘Church of the
Nutrition’, described in the seventh-century pilgrim account De Locis Sanctis.
The Byzantine Church of the Nutrition was said to have had preserved in its
crypt (cellar) the house where Jesus was brought up. Ken Dark has suggested that
the 1st-century dwelling house visible today was the house that the Byzantines
believed was the house where Jesus was brought up, but says that it is
impossible to know today whether the Byzantines were correct in believing
that. The location of the house, only 100m from the Annunciation Church,
combined with its Second Temple period date, makes this a serious possibility,
but, as he says, it is impossible for archaeology to prove.

On both
sides of the house are sections of Crusader -period wall. There is also a small
section of the western wall of the Early Roman period house, seen here on the
bottom left side.

Surviving fragments of rock-cut wall show that the house originally
extended to the west, east and south, but it is impossible at this
time to determine its exact dimensions and total plan as only part of
it is within the present cellar. The surviving part of the larger
room was rectilinear about 10m long by 4-5m wide, with the smaller
concealed room 2m long by 4-5m, built against the slope of the hill
which rises to the north. According to the "Courtyard" house
model, the main family room would have been beyond the western
wall, while a courtyard with a cistern would have been located to
the south.

Further excavations at the site are unlikely to take place, but even
on the basis of what is already known this may well be one of the
most important archaeological sites in Nazareth.

On the rock to the side of the house is a small engraving. It is
not clear what this means, nor what date it is.

Sister Stefania also pointed out another engraved sign on the rock,
which looks like a fish.

Crusaders platform

A rectilinear paved platform is located in the front of the house,
dated to the Crusaders period. An east-west wall, seen on the left
side, is also dated to the Crusader period.

On the corner of the paved platform is a covered opening to a
vertical shaft. Ken Dark suggests that this is a Crusader-period
‘squint, a feature found in medieval Western European churches,
placed to allow medieval pilgrims to view the altar beneath, inside
a small chapel located on the side of the tomb below.

Burial Loculi (South)

An Early Roman-period tomb (mentioned above) is cut into the
rock-face immediately south of the house. This is well-preserved
and again contains loculi (burial cavities).

The location of the tombs are indicated on the map with a red square.

A modern wooden bridge leads down to the level of the tombs.

A reverse
view from the bridge towards the platform level of the house is seen
in the following photo:

On
the level under the residential house is an opening to a family
burial cave. A rolling stone seals the entrance.

The deep courtyard in front of
the entrance to this tomb is that which cut through the earlier
house. On one side it is possible to see the rolling stone that
once sealed the entrance to the tomb itself.

A
number of burial cavities are cut inside the tomb. This burial type
was a Jewish tradition during the Roman and Byzantine period, and
thousands of rock hewn burial loculi exist in the Holy Land. This
practice is based on the sacred Jewish religious duty of proper
burial, as attested in numerous cases in Scripture.

Note that it is unusual to find tombs near a residential house, as
cemeteries were always located outside of the Jewish residential
areas. However, in this case the tomb cuts through quarrying, which
cut through the disused house. So the house was out of use before
the tomb was constructed.

Rolling stone

A
rolling stone (Hebrew: Golel) is located at the entrance to the
tomb. It is 33 cm thick and 109 cm in diameter, and slides in a
rock cut groove. This heavy stone was used to seal the entrance
after the burial of a family member, in order to stop animals and
grave-robbers entering, and also to prevent the "impurity" (Tum'ah)
escaping.

The
use of rolling stones started in the Second Temple period, and then
became very common throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods, but
the design of these tombs changed in that time. For example, tombs
dated to the first Century AD, as at the Sisters of Nazareth, have
larger rolling stones than those dated later.

During
the first temple period, tombs were sealed with square blocks. The
use of rolling stones started in the second temple period, and
then became very common throughout the Roman and Byzantine periods.

This fact was used by critiques of the earlier dating time of the
tomb, as they claimed that rolling stones were used only during the
middle of the 1st Century AD, suggesting that the tombs are dated
later than 100 AD. Future excavations could shed more light on
the dating issue.